A World Away
by Cate's Creative Chaos
Summary: Elphaba and Fiyero are happily free in a world just outside Oz with two daughters. When the older Daughter begs her parents to let her attend Shiz, reluctantly, they let her. 19 year old Claira ventures to Oz with the hopes to experience university the way her parents had. Though Claira struggles to keep her identity hidden from everyone, especially Glinda.
1. Chapter 1

21 years after Elphaba had died. It just so happened to be Glinda's most hated day of the year. The holiday after two years, had been officially named Goodness day, It was the day that the Wicked Witch had died. And Glinda, being a public figure was expected each year to go out and take part in the festivities, so she did, regretfully. Most celebrations would begin at dawn and continue until midnight, but Glinda always went home around 8pm. That was when she'd go in her secret room that was hidden in her office behind the book case. The room held everything that Glinda had left of her best friend. Her books, which she had salvaged from Shiz, The Grimmerie, Then the center piece of the room, Elphaba's hat. In which Glinda had given to Elphaba originally as a cruel joke, but had since become her friends trademark.

In the first 5 years after Elphaba's death, Glinda spent a lot of her spare time in this room, sulking over her friend. Eventually Glinda had forced herself to overcome her grief, and had almost entirely avoided this room throughout the year. But each year on this day, Glinda would dedicate her evening to remembering the only friend that had ever mattered to her. The friend who had changed her life, the friend who made her the person she strived her be. Glinda simply sat on the floor on the tiny room, clutching Elphaba's hat, weeping.

...

Elphaba sat at her kitchen table with her eyes closed and a pink flower barrette in gripped in her hand. Elphaba found that if she focused hard enough on her, Elphaba could magically pick up small traces of Glinda's emotions. Elphaba thought that when they left Oz, she would lose track of magical connection, but, she was strong enough to still pick up very small traces occasionally. Right now, Elphaba could tell that Glinda was upset. The connection was best when Glinda was experiencing strong emotions. Elphaba knew why Glinda was upset, she was always upset or angry on this day. The day Elphaba 'died'. Elphaba hated that she had to leave Glinda.

The first few years after leaving Oz was very hard for Elphaba, she had flashbacks of her time on the run quite often, and when she was able to track Glinda, all she felt was the grief that Glinda felt, which put Elphaba in serious phases of guilt. Once Elphaba was able to free Fiyero from his scarecrow state, it gave her new hope, and cleansed some of Elphaba's worry and guilt. It was only when she became pregnant with Claira that Elphaba knew she had to pull through. Elphaba was able to get back on her feet and be strong for her daughter. To Elphaba's relief, Claira came out in Fiyero's olive skin tone, with Fiyero's blue eyes and Elphaba silky raven hair, everything was normal other then the small green oval birth mark on Claira's left shoulder blade. Painfully, Claira looked quite a lot like Nessarose. It came to Elphaba's attention when seeing Claira, that herself and Nessarose probably would have looked similar if it had not been for the green skin and black hair, they had similar elegant bone structure, though Nessa's seemed much softer, and the same dark eyes, though Claira had Fiyero's eyes. Claira was able to go to school harassment free, as Elphaba wanted for her child.

The second daughter however, Little Emmarose, wasn't quite as lucky. Emma was born with Elphaba's skin tone, and Elphaba's hair and Elphaba's eyes, but with Fiyero's rounder face. Fiyero saw the moments the baby was born that she had taken after Elphaba, he quickly turned the baby away from Elphaba, knowing she'd be upset. Fiyero and Elphaba both loved the little girl unconditionally, they just didn't want Emma to grow up like Elphaba had.

When Elphaba finally saw the baby, she cried. Elphaba took the little green baby and held her close to herself. Elphaba swayed the baby and wept, continuously apologizing to the little girl. Fiyero noticed Elphaba's apologizes. "Hey, stop it Fae." Fiyero said to her distressful wife.

"Fiyero, I love her, she's beautiful. It's just, I don't want her to grow up like I had to Yero." Elphaba cried.

"No, she won't because her parents love her and always will, her sister will not be ashamed of her and we'll make sure that she is accepted. She won't grow up like you had too, she'll grow up loved unconditionally." Fiyero told her, planting a kiss on both mother and child.

Elphaba nodded and hugged her baby. When they called upon Claira to come meet the baby, she wasn't even phased due to having grown up with a green mom.

Present day, Claira Fae Tiggulaar is 19 years old while Emmarose Glinda Tiggulaar is 13.

...

Glinda sat in her office, focused on her work, though Glinda had certainly aged, as everybody does, she remained the perky petite blonde she was in her 20's.

When a knock rapped on her office door, Glinda's attention was pulled from the task at hand. "Come in." she announced. Two little men skipped into the room, happy grins on their faces.

"Hello lady, we have a proposition for you!" the smaller of the men chirped.

The older man flicked the smaller one on the shoulder and stepped in front. "Lady Glinda, there is a position to be filled at Shiz university, we are aware that you are familiar with the school and were wondering if perhaps, you would be interested in taking over as head Shiztress, we realize you are very busy with your current-"

Glinda cut him off. "I'll do it!" she piped.

Once the gentlemen had been escorted from the palace, Glinda strut from her office to talk to her daughter in the grand sitting room of the emerald palace. No, Glinda had never found a man she loved, after she had made the decision to work towards being happy again, she had tried dating a few times, never did it work out. Instead, Glinda had an idea. She'd adopt a baby. She's become a mother. So Glinda got to work on that and eventually, she adopted a green eyed, red haired 10 month old baby named Alice.

"So Alice, I'm going to be working at Shiz for a semester or two starting in September.

Alice looked up from her book, her short red hair swishing just above her shoulders. Alice pushed up her blue, square glasses. "Why?" Alice asked.

"They asked me to take over as head mistress, the last head master just retired." Glinda told her 15 year old daughter.

"Shiz is like 4 hours from here by train though. " Alice pointed out.

"Oh I know, we're going to live in the housing at Shiz for a while." Glinda said. "Only if you want to of course, I can tell them no." she added quickly.

"No, go for it, that sounds cool." Alice smiled, directing her attention back to her book.

...

The Tiggulaar family was having a normal Thursday evening. Fiyero struggled to cook pasta on the stove, while Elphaba and Emma sat at the table, Elphaba attempting to help Emma with a math problem she was working on. Emma had never been much of a scholar. She struggled in school much like her father always had, she had been tested shortly after she started school, for learning disabilities and soon after learned that Emma had dyslexia which effected not only reading and writing skills, but her overall performance and confidence in school. Elphaba and Claira always tried their best to help Emma but she struggled no matter what they tried. Claira got her mother's brains, she loved to read and school had whipped through school like it was nothing. Emma had inherited Elphaba's strong magic, to Fiyero's annoyance. The lone male in the household always found things floating, or the occasional explosion. Though Claira had never shown any signs of being magical.

"mom, I don't get it. I'm never going to get it, there's no use just quit now." Emma exclaimed, plopping her head onto the table.

"Honey, you're brilliant." Elphaba encouraged. Elphaba was about to attempt a pep talk to her daughter when her other daughter, Claira, came walking into the kitchen with her shoulders back and she head held high in a floral print skirt and white blouse which was very flattering to her long thin legs.

"Mom, Dad. I want to go to Shiz." Claira announced out of nowhere.

Fiyero and Elphaba were both taken aback. "You want to what?" asked Fiyero, as if he had heard her wrong.

"I want to go to Shiz. I know you both went there and there is stuff there that isn't at any university in this world. Please?" Claira begged.

"No! Claira, Shiz is in Oz. Oz isn't safe for us." Elphaba claimed.

Claira rolled her eyes in frustration. "You say that all the time. Oz isn't safe for you. Not me. Nobody will have to know who I am. I'll make everything up and stay away from people, just give me a chance!" Claira raised her voice.

The pot Fiyero was supposed to be stirring, boiled over causing the attention to be taken from Claira and to Fiyero. Elphaba shook her head and turned back to her oldest daughter. "You are not going to Shiz and that is final." Elphaba said in a voice of great authority and finality. Claira groaned and stomped back to the bedroom she shared with Emma. Elphaba, Emma and Fiyero stayed frozen in the kitchen, taken aback by the outburst of frustration from a normally calm and quiet person.

Fiyero looked at Elphaba. "I know that look! She's not going to Shiz Fiyero, I don't even know where she got that idea. If anybody found out who she was, well, I don't even want to think about what would happen. Also, it's not only putting her in danger, but Emma and us too. She can't go to Shiz its far too dangerous!" Elphaba exclaimed to her husband.

Emma noticed the tension in the room and calmly packed up her work and trudged down the hall into hers and Claira's room.

"Elphaba, we should at least talk about this. She looked like she really wanted to go, it probably took a lot of courage from her just to ask us and we immediately shot her down." Fiyero said to Elphaba, who was pacing the tiny kitchen.

"Fiyero it isn't safe. She could say the wrong thing just once and bam, twenty years of hiding for nothing." Elphaba argued.

"Fae, she had a point. Nobody is going to suspect, even if there is a slight resemblance. We're dead, remember? It's not safe for us to go back, that doesn't mean the girls can't." Fiyero suggested.

Elphaba stopped and looked at him. "Are you saying Emma could ever go there? No way. She's green. Even if we are dead to them, everybody in Oz would assume she's mine. We can't let Claira go there, if we'll never be able to let Emmarose go there. It wouldn't be fair." Elphaba said.

"So you're saying that because we can't give one daughter an opportunity the other doesn't get the opportunity either? Elphaba..." Fiyero said, clearly picking out the flaws in what his wife had said.

"Ugh, I suppose you're right. But what about poor Emma? Claira's really her only friend. She'd be here by herself." Elphaba brought up. Elphaba was brainstorming every possible excuse to not let Claira go, but Fiyero was able to counter them all.

"Emmarose will be fine. How would Claira feel towards Emma if she found out that she was part of the reason we wouldn't let her go?" Fiyero harped.

Elphaba sighed. "She'd be pissed." Elphaba said.

"Okay, let's just talk to Claira about it, but later. I'm hungry and dinner is ready." Fiyero finalized the conversation.

"So, tomorrow there will be only 7 school days left until summer." Emma reminded her family, breaking the awkward dinner table silence.

"I know, and you've done so well this term, you certainly deserve a break." Elphaba smiled, and Fiyero nodded, genuinely proud of their daughter for passing all her classes this year. Emma scoffed.

Claira looked up from her plate for the first time "Seriously Em, you did good this term." she said, narrowing her eyes back at her food. Emma smiled slightly.

Claira and Emma had a very good relationship, Claira had always been more of an introvert. She kept to herself for the most part, meaning nobody had ever attempted to make friends with her. Emma on the other hand, could easily be outgoing and social, unfortunately, the green skin was always a turn off when it came to meeting friends. Therefore, Emma had turned her outgoing and social able abilities into an excuse to sass anything with a heartbeat. Much like her mother, sarcasm and sassiness had become a go to means of communication, which sometimes got the kid in trouble at school. Elphaba and Fiyero never saw reason to punish Emma for this, her words weren't mean or harmful, and if they were, it was clear she had very good reasoning. Elphaba understood first hand, and Fiyero second hand, that sometimes defenses such as sarcasm were of the best kind. Though when it came down to actual conversation, Emma was weak, so she avoided it at all cost.

Despite the sisters age gap and personality differences, they both found comfort and trust in each other, to Emma, Claira was idolized as her heroic big sister, or her trusted best friend. And to Claira, Emma was both her little sister she felt entitled to protect, and also her shoulder to cry on or someone to rant to. It was a good system they shared.

...

"So. Claira, your father and I discussed what you asked us earlier." Elphaba said just as the family was finishing up their meals.

Claira lifted her head and look at her mother, then at her father and back to her mother. "And?" Claira pushed.

Elphaba sighed and looked at her husband expectantly. Fiyero gave Elphaba a curt nod and looked back to his daughter. "Claira, how badly do you want this?" Fiyero asked his oldest daughter.

"More than anything dad. Ever since I was old enough for you guys to tell me stories about Shiz, I've wanted to go there. I've always wanted to go to Oz too. Your faces when you talk about, it just... I need to see for myself." Claira pleaded. Elphaba and Fiyero exchanged looks. Without speaking, Fiyero told Elphaba it was up to her. Obviously, Fiyero had come to terms with the idea, but Elphaba, being Elphaba, took a lot of convincing.

Elphaba took a deep breath. "Okay. You can go to Shiz." Elphaba sighed. Claira's eyes widened with excitement and a white smile spread across her gentle features.

"Semesters there have always started in September, I'm hoping they still do. Which will mean we have plenty of time to plan things out." Elphaba stated towards the excited girl. Claira stood up and opened her arms to her mother. Elphaba's nervous, hard face broke into a small smile at seeing her daughter so happy. Elphaba hugged her daughter close to her.

...

After the family had cleaned up from dinner, Claira and Emma both retreated to their bedroom. Immediately, Claira flopped down on her bed and began day dreaming of Shiz, the one school she had always wanted to attend. Claira was interrupted however, by her skinny 13 year old sister, hoping onto the foot of her bed. Emma's slightly too long, raven side bangs covered most of her right eye. "You're really going to just leave?" Emma asked in Claira's face, brushing her hair from her face.

Claira sat up and fixed her own matching raven hair and adjusting her hair band. "Em, I'm not leaving. I'm just going to university, the fact that it's in the place where mom and dad are from makes no difference, I'll still come home for most holidays and for the summer. The same as any university. " Claira assured Emmarose.

"Claira! Do you even hear yourself? It is not the same, I know you've heard mom and dad mention that phones don't exist in Oz. Plus, even if they did, I doubt you can call between worlds! You can't even write letter between worlds, and for some reason , I doubt there's wifi!" Emma rambled, going red in the face. Claira looked taken aback by her sisters passion. "Claira, how will we know if your okay? It's not safe there for us." she softened.

Claira took Emma's hand and look her in the eye. "I'll be careful, they won't know who I am. If something were to happen to me, you'd know Emma." Claira said. Emma let herself fall into her sisters hug.


	2. Chapter 2

Two months had passed since the decision had been made to send Claira to Shiz, Elphaba and even Fiyero had tried to change their daughters mind several times but it was obvious that to Claira, their permission had been written in stone, therefore, she would be going.

Claira and Emma sat on the carpet floor beside Claira's bed, which held a suitcase laying opened, Claira's clothes and items stacked high above the small suitcases capacity. "I think we've got everything." said Emma. Claira nodded still starring at the suitcase. "I don't even know why I'm bringing all these clothes. Dad told me that the trends and styles in Oz will probably be very different then what it is here." Claira said. Emma sighed. "Well, you still need clothes to wear in the mean time until you get new clothes, and you never know, fashion could be the exact same there. Or maybe you'll just have to start your own trends." Emma suggested.

It was early in the morning on September 1st. Elphaba had explained to Claira that she'd cross through the passage at 10am, so hopefully she'd be in the Emerald city at noon, when the street were the most crowded so that she'd blend in. Fiyero had given Claira the huge amount of royal inheritance that Fiyero had taken with him just in case when they left Oz. It would be enough for her to pay for university and keep her grounded until she finished university. Elphaba and Fiyero told Claira that once she was in Oz, she would have to make her own decisions.

Claira zipped up her suitcase and hoisted the luggage onto the floor, rolling it to the kitchen where her parents sat, drinking tea together. Claira stood her luggage up against the wall and smiled at her stressed out parents. Elphaba smiled back. "Okay, the passage into Oz should still be opened, it's a few hours' drive from here. The spell that was used to open it says that it will always remain open but only to people who have a reason to believe it's there. The passage will take you to the forest on the out skirts of the Emerald city, which is the capital of Oz and where you'll get a train, or carriage to Shiz. You and your father will enter into Oz, he's going to get you onto the yellow brick road, from there, just follow that into the city and find out how to get to Shiz. You'll figure it out from there." Elphaba explained carefully to Claira. "Why can't you come into Oz too? What about Emma?" Claira asked. "If Fiyero is seen, then he can hide his face and be passed off as any man. If I'm seen, they see green and immediately all hell breaks loose. Honestly, I'd prefer if Emma stayed here in case someone follows your dad back, but I guess she can come for the drive." Elphaba said. Claira nodded. "When are we leaving?" Claira asked. "Well its 8am now, we want you in the Emerald city by noon, you'll be in Oz by 11 that gives you time to get in the city, so we can leave whenever you're ready. All packed?" said Fiyero. "Yeah I'm packed. We can leave." Claira replied. "Em!" She shouted down the hallway. Emma popped out the door way and hopped down the hall, standing next to Claira. "Come for the drive." Claira told Emma. Emma smiled. "Yup, I just have to get dressed." Emma motioned to her zebra print pajama's and blue tank top. Emma turned around and ran back to her room. Moments later Emma emerged in denim skinny jeans and a plain black v neck t-shirt.

When the family arrived at the place where the passage should be found, Emma was ordered to stay in the car. Claira and Emma bid their final goodbyes and Claira joined her parents on the edge of the wood. The trio made their way into the tree coated land. Elphaba stopped. "It's here somewhere. I can feel the magic." she said. Elphaba walked in a small circle around herself, and suddenly pointed to a clearing of trees. Before their eyes, a dark, portal-like hole appeared. "See?" Elphaba said, noticing the look on Claira's face. "Now that I pointed it out to you, you can see it." Elphaba explained. Claira nodded, beginning to feel a little nervous. Fiyero took Claira's bag and stood on the edge on the passage. Elphaba wrapped Claira tight in her arms, kissing her fore head. "Remember, use another last name, nothing that can be in any way related to me or your father. Make sure to always hide that birth mark. If you run into my friend, I've told you about her-" Claira cut her off. "Glinda." she said. Elphaba smiled. "Yes. if you run into her, be extra careful, she knows me better than anyone. I love you so much. Please be careful. I trust you." Elphaba told her daughter. Claira nodded "I will. I love you too mom." she said, taking her father's hand. "You be careful too Fiyero, this is not a walk down memory lane!" Elphaba bothered after them. "Stop worrying Fae, we've got this." Fiyero said nonchalantly. Claira glanced back at her mother once more before stepping into the darkness.

Moments later Claira's new surroundings depend before her eyes. Her and Fiyero stood in a green forest, sun shining through the thick trees. "Woah." Claira said, taking in her surroundings. Fiyero grinned. "Okay, let's get you on the yellow brick road" he said, snapping her out of her gaze. The father and daughter began strolling through the forest towards what Fiyero remembered to be the right way. "Claira, take what your mom told you seriously. People here, well, they're afraid of her and any little sign that she's back or that you're her daughter, could result really badly. Use a good fake name, say you're from... I don't know... munchkin land." Fiyero reminded her. Claira nodded with a puzzled look on her face. "Munchkinland..?." she muttered to herself.

The pair walk along for what seemed like a long time before the yellow brick road came into view. "Okay. You're on your own. Just follow the yellow brick road and it'll take you to the emerald city, from there, find a train to Shiz." Fiyero repeated once again. "Oh, and Claira, don't pick up any companions." he added with a smile. Claira decided not to ask.

Fiyero pulled his daughter into a hug. "I love you. Be careful, but also, remember to enjoy yourself too, okay?" Fiyero said over her shoulder. Claira chuckled. "I'll try, dad." she said. "Okay. bye Claira, I'll see you at Christmas, or should I say Lurlinemas?" Fiyero said, turning away and back into the woods. Claira took a deep breath and continued her journey on her own, down the yellow brick road.

...

Claira saw from afar the tip of the Emerald city skyline. Claira hurried her pace, excited to see the green buildings up close. Claira's dream was actually coming true. She'd see the Emerald city and go to Shiz university. This was bound to be a good year, wasn't it?

The tree's around Claira began to thin as she approached the city. The shade offered by the forest was no longer there, which helped to keep the hot Oz sunlight off Claira. The hustle and bustle of the city at noon time became audible and eventually Claira found herself on the crowded sidewalks, muttering 'excuse me' to everybody who bumped into her. The city streets in Oz were very different from the cities where Claira came from. There was no litter on the ground and no smell of pollution, no noisy car engines, instead the click clack or horses pulling carriages. It seemed like the perfect, happy place to live. It astounded Claira that these happy little bright people, could be so negative and judgmental towards her mother.

Claira began asking people who passed by her about trains to Shiz, most people just gave her a smile and then a quizzical look before continuing on with their days. "Excuse me, does anyone... Hi, can you tell me how too.. I'm just wondering if... can someone please tell me how to get to Shiz?" finally, an elderly lady wearing round glasses with very thick lenses answered her. "Train leaves in 15 minutes little one. Better hurry!" she said, tapping her watch and continuing down the street. "Wait!" Claira jogged after her, "Where's the train station? I- I've never been in the city." Claira explained. The old lady chuckled. "Just keep going in that direction. Train station is at the end of the block." said the women with a smile. "Thank you, thanks so much!" Claira bid the old lady as she ran towards her train, grinning widely.

Claira ran into the short green building. Looking at the board, she saw that she hadn't missed the train. Quickly, Claira purchased her ticket, only briefly struggling with the Ozian currency. Claira made it to the platform just in time. The train began to shuffle on once Claira began looking for a seat.

Claira passed several compartments filled with girls and guys her age, none really taking notice of her, before Claira came to a compartment with only one person. The girl in the compartment only looked maybe a couple years older than Emma. Claira peeked in. "Excuse me, are any of these seats taken?" Claira asked shyly. "Nope, come on in." the girl said, her red hair swishing around her shoulders. Claira sighed and stepped into the compartment, lifting her luggage into the storage compartment above her. She plopped down into the seat across from the red headed younger girl. The awkward silence was deafening, so Claira decided to try and make conversation. "So, will you be attending Shiz?" Claira asked. The girl chuckled and shook her head, "No, I'm only 15. My mom is the new head mistress there, she left really early this morning, and I didn't want to get up so I told her I'd get the later train and meet her, we're going to be living on campus too. My name is Alice, Alice Upland." she said, extending her hand. "I'm Claira Ti- mmons... Claira Timmons." Claira said carefully. Alice laughed. "You sure about that." she said jokingly. Claira realised this was sarcasm and sighed in relief. "Is this your first year at Shiz?" Alice asked. Claira look from her lap "Yeah." she said simply. Alice tried her best to keep conversation, but Claira didn't get the idea obviously. "I like your hair, It's really nice." said Alice. Claira smiled, stroking her long black hair self consciously. "Thanks, you too." she replied.

This awkward conversation continued basically all the way to Shiz. When the train came to a halt, Claira leapt up from her seat. "Are we here?" she asked, eyes wide with anticipation. Alice laughed. "Yeah I think so." she said. Claira grabbed her luggage and stepped out of the compartments, followed by Alice.

...

Glinda watched the university students pool of out the train in clumps, awaiting her Alice. 'If Alice missed that train, she's going to be in Oz damn trouble' Glinda thought. Finally, in the last group of students Alice was there, standing next to a taller girl. 'Have I met her somewhere?' Glinda thought at first glance.

Alice seemed to spot her mother from afar. Alice waved and began walking quickly towards her. Alice stopped and turned towards Claira "Come on." Alice said, beckoning the older girl. Claira shrugged and followed who she supposed was her new friend. Claira followed Alice to where her mother was. When they reached the petite, middle aged blonde women, Alice wrapped an arm around her in a quick hug. "See mom? I told you I wouldn't miss it." Alice said. "Yes, you've proved me wrong." Glinda smiled.

Alice seemed to remember Claira standing behind her. "Mom, this is Claira." Alice introduced. Claira smiled "Hi." Claira said. "Hi Claira, are you a new student here?" asked Alice's mother. "Yeah, it's my first year." Claira replied. "Ah, well it my first year here too." Glinda said with a smile. "As staff of course. I was a student here back in the day." she added. "I can't help but notice you look kind of familiar to me? Do you have a last name Claira? I'm Glinda Upland. Head mistress here, so you can call me Ms. Upland." said Glinda. Claira's face drain of blood. 'Glinda. oh my god.' thought Claira. "Claira? You okay?" asked Alice. Claira snapped out of her shock. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine sorry. Just a little nervous to start school." Claira said, adding an obvious fake smile. "So what's your last name?" Glinda repeated in high voice. "Oh, sorry, It's Simmons." Claira answered. Alice Glanced at her. "I thought it was Timmons?" Alice whispered. "Oh. yes. it is. Timmons. Claira Timmons." Claira corrected herself quickly. "Hmm, I don't remember seeing you on the list. Did you register yet?" Glinda asked. "No, I didn't. Where do I do that?" Claira asked. Glinda flipped up a page on the clip board she was holding. "It's done. Should we send the tuition bill to your house, or...?" asked Glinda. "Oh, no, just bill me." said Claira, thinking of how easy that was compared to any university's back home. "Well, very nice meeting you Claira, but I have to get to work on room assignments. Alice, you can find staff housing on your own I'm sure. We're room 34." Glinda said. "And Alice, student dorms are the biggest building on the right. I've put you in dorm number 112, your roommates name is Alex, who I believe is already up there." Glinda added, she waved and turned away into the crowd of students. Alice and Claira waved goodbye as they took their luggage and headed their separate ways.


	3. Chapter 3

Claira walked down 3 longs hallways before she found the dorm she'd be living in all year. Claira hoped greatly that her roommate, whoever she may be, was not nosy. A nosy roommate was the last thing Claira needed. Room 112. "Well here we are..." Claira said to herself, unlocking the door.

When Claira slowly swung the door opened, she did not expect to see a shirtless boy laying on the bed to the left of the room, he had short dark brown curly hair, wide green eyes and an angular jaw. "Oh, oh, I'm sorry, I...I must have the wrong room." Claira said, her eyes wide. Claira shook her head, and turned away from the boy. "No wait!" he yelled after her. The boy picked up his shirt off the floor and flung it on. "I think you have the right room, the key opened the door." he said with a smart ass smirk. Claira hesitated, obviously confused. The boy extended his hand. "I'm Alex." he said. Reluctantly, Claira shook his hand. "I... I thought-" Claira began before being interrupted by Alex. "You thought Alex was a girl." he completed for her. Claira just nodded. "Well, the dorms are coed here, you know." Alex said. "No, I didn't know that." Claira said, entering the room again. "I'm Claira." she introduced. "Nice name, Claira. " Alex returned to his position on his bed, this time keeping his abs to himself. Claira obviously had no interest in sleeping 3 feet away from some smug, boy with a big ego that she had never met, but Claira wasn't going to make an issue out of it. She'd just have to sleep with one eye opened.

Claira opened her suit case atop her bed and began to unpack her things into the dresser on her side of the room. Claira wished she could just go to bed, the four hour train ride had really tired her out for some reason. After Claira almost had all her clothes stuffed away when Alex spoke, making Claira jump."Wow, you have got a lot of clothes. Different clothes too. I like it." Alex said. Claira turn around, a small smile on her face. "Thanks, I like clothes." Claira replied. "Well, you're lucky they don't make us wear those gross uniforms anymore. The year after my brother graduated was the year the changed the dress code. He's in the Gale Force now. Guess he'll never escape a uniform." Alex said. Claira had no idea there ever were uniforms here, but decided not to say that, just in case Shiz university uniforms were meant to be common knowledge in Oz. What made Claira pale was the talk of Gale Force. Her parents had warned her about them, told her to stay away at all costs, just in case. Her parents had told her they were just like police officers, but in most cases, much more brutal. Claira's parents had told her the Oz doesn't have a legal system like back home. Although they had also said there's much less crime in Oz. 'Maybe there's less crime because there's a much harsher legal system.' thought Claira. "Claira? you okay?" Alex piped, snapping Claira out of her thoughts. She raised her eyebrows at him, as if she didn't know what he was talking about. "It's just, you got really pale all the sudden." Alex questioned. "Oh yeah, I just haven't eaten in while, skipped lunch." Claira lied, putting away the last few things in her suit case.

At the bottom of her bag was a picture in an elegant black picture frame. A picture of her family. It was the one they had taken last spring. Emma figured it would be funny to make her dad float 6 inches off the ground in the photo, so just before the picture snapped, she cast the spell, causing her father to be floating in the photo with a look of shock and terror on his face, Emma doubled over in laughter, Elphaba just opening her mouth to yell at Emma with a furrow brow and pointed finger, Claira attempting to stifle a laugh. After the photo was taken, Emma realized she didn't know how to reverse the spell. Elphaba took 20 minutes to find a spell that would work. It had become Claira's favorite photo of her family, she knew deep down that it hadn't been a good idea to bring it here, but Claira didn't have the heart to leave it home. Quickly, she tucked it in the very back of her night stand drawer.

Glancing at the little clock on the night stand, Claira realized that it was nearly six o'clock, and that she really was hungry. "Do you know if the cafeteria is opened in the evening?" Claira asked Alex as she pushed her empty suitcase under the bed. "No, it's not, but there's a little store on campus, I'll go with you, I'm starving." said Alex. "Uh, okay." Claira said, pulling a pink cardigan out of the top drawer. Alex raised an eyebrow. "It's like, 25 degrees out there." he reminded her. "Just in case it gets cold." Claira explained. Alex shrugged. "Whatever" he muttered, walking out the door. Claira grabbed her purse and jogged to catch up.

The little store, surprisingly had quite a bit of selection. Claira and Alex parted to go search the store for something to eat. Claira selected a banana, a bottle of orange juice and a fairly large tin of peanuts. When Alex jumped in line behind her, she saw that he obviously didn't have the same healthy life style as Claira. Alex had an arm full of food, including 3 chocolate bars, labeled with a brand Claira had never seen before, a whole litre of pop, again by a brand she didn't recognize, a bag of butter flavored popcorn, and two pre made deli sandwiches. Claira stared at him, wondering how in the world he could eat all that and maintain the body he has. Claira looked him up and down, as if searching for where it all goes. "Are you checking me out, Claira?" Alex asked sarcastically. "No. I'm just wondering how in the world you can eat all that." Claira said plainly. The cashier coughed. "I don't really care if you're checking him out, but there's a line so can I check you out?" the man behind the register said, annoyance evident on his face. His comment for some reason made Claira snicker, it reminded her of something Emma would say if she was given the opportunity.

Walking across campus to the dorm, Claira and Alex took a detour around the grounds, so the two first year students could see all of Shiz. The odd pair made a loop around a set of beautiful fountains, when something caught Claira's eye.

Claira approached the statue of a young girl. The figure was only maybe four feet tall. Claira leaned over to read the plaque mounted on the concrete base.

 _Dorothy Gale of Kansas._

 _Brave young slayer of The Wicked Witch of The West._

 _Savoir of Oz_

Claira visibly paled, staring at the statue of the little girl who had tried to kill her mother. Suddenly Claira didn't feel hungry anymore. Alex rolled his eyes at her. "Don't tell me your one of those people who can't even think about the witch without getting scared." Alex said. Claira nodded, her hands shaking slightly. "Yeah, I'm one of those people." Claira said, "My mom used to tell me stories about her." Claira added just for the sake of irony. "Well that's not very motherly." Alex said. Claira shook her head. "My mother is very motherly. She's great." Claira defended. "And your father?" asked Alex. Claira groaned internally. 'Great, now he's asking about my family.' Claira thought. "My fathers the same, great." Claira said. "Any siblings?" Alex asked. Claira really wished he'd stop. "A younger sister." she answered, thinking of Emma. "And where are you from?" Claira paused. 'Where _am_ I from...' Claira thought, then she remembered what her father had told her in the woods. "Munchkin land." Claira replied. "Now your turn. Tell me everything." Claira ordered, before Alex could ask her anything else. He scoffed. "What makes you think I'll tell you?" Alex bothered. Claira glared at him. "Okay, okay. I live in the emerald city, my mom is grounds keeper at the palace, my dad's captain of the Gale Force, my brother Jacob is a novice officer in the Gale Force." Alex said. Claira shivered. How had she managed to be paired with the one person whose family probably wanted her and her family dead.

Claira saw from a distance, Alice skipping towards them. When she spotted Claira, Alice picked up her speed. Claira was quite surprise when Alice ran up to Alex and they hugged each other. "Hey! I was hoping to see you while we were out!" Alex said. "Are you guys getting along? I was so happy when mom paired you guys! Mom knew you guys would like each other. You're basically the same person!" Alice said enthusiastically. "I, I didn't know you guys knew each other." said Claira. "Like I said, my mom works at the palace. So Glinda and my mom kind of became friends. Plus my dad is captain of the guard so, our families are friends. Me and Alice have known each other forever." Alex explained. "How do you guys know each other? " Alex added. "We met on the train." said Claira. "Anyway, nice seeing you guys, but mom wanted me back 10 minutes ago." Alice said, skipping off. Claira and Alex also began to continue their way back to the dorm."Why didn't you mention you met Alice?" asked Alex. "Why would I have mentioned it, I didn't know you knew her." Claira said, figuring it was a fairly obvious answer. "Most people would want to brag about meeting Glinda the goods daughter." Alex stated, more loudly than necessary. "You're right. Chill." Claira said. "I am chill." Alex muttered, jiggling the key in the dorm door.

Claira sat on her bed, facing away from her roommate. She had finished her so called 'dinner' and was now just munching on peanuts. Claira had come to realize that Alex wasn't quite as bad his first impression to her, though it certainly freaked her out that his father was captain of the Gale Force and his brother was also an officer.

A knock came on the which caused Claira to turn around, facing Alex. "Are you expecting someone?" Claira asked him. He shook his head and hopped up to answer the door.

When Alex cracked the door opened, it was pushed the remainder of the way. In burst a group of five boys with obnoxious looking haircuts. None of them wasted time in making themselves comfortable. "Kay, so dude. You're Jake's brother right?" one of the boys asked Alex. Alex nodded slowly, still standing over by the door, clearly confused. The boy tossed his head back and grinned. "That so sick, he was in his fourth year when we started here. Everyone idolized him. We're in third year now. " Another boy said, brushing back his surfer like hair. Claira stood up and put the lid on her peanuts, placing the half full container on her nightstand with the intention to leave the room for awhile. "Whoa, you've got a hot roommate too!" another boy said. Claira rolled her eyes. "My roommate is Amy Oscar, ugh." the boy added with a fake shiver of disgust. Alex ignored his comment. "Claira where are you going?" he asked her. "I'm just going to... um, brush my teeth." Claira said, turning around to retrieve her toothbrush. "Oh... okay then." Alex said over the roar of the boys who had taken over the room.

Claira zipped out of the room and down the hall to the girls bath room. There were several other girls in there, sitting on the sinks and around the room chatting and giggling. A few of the girl tried to get Claira to join them but Claira just politely refused and brushed her teeth. When she was finished she bid the girls a farewell and walked back to her room, with the hopes that her five minutes away was enough time for Alex to get all those boys out of their room. When she got close to the dorm and heard shouting and intense laughter coming from inside the door, Claira sighed. They were still there. Claira turned the key in the door and stepPed into the room. The first thing she saw was her peanuts spilled all over her bed. The second thing she saw was the group of boys on Claira's side of the room, her dresser drawers all flung opened. A moment of panic surged through her as she look to her nightstand. The drawer looked untouched. Thank goodness. Claira's attention went back to the boys, her bra's underwear and sock were flung all over the room, a few of the boys had her tiny bra's held up to their chests, making poses and speaking in high voices. Claira looked to Alex, completely offended and shocked. He stood on the other side of the room, running his hands through his hair, Alex had no control over the situation. "Hey." Claira said in an angry tone. They didn't listen "Hey!" she tried again slightly louder. "HEY!" she screeched. The boys stopped and looked at Claira. Her face was red hot with anger and her teeth grinded against each other. "I want you all out right now!" Claira screamed, pointing an angry finger at the door. They stayed where they were with stupid grins on all their faces. "NOW!" she screamed. The boys chuckled their way out of the room, the last one to leave turned around, "your hot roommate has a temper." he said to Alex before Claira slammed the door.

Claira growled and began stuffing her clothes back in the drawers. "Claira, I'm sorry-" Alex began. Claira stopped him. "don't be, you had nothing to do with it." she said. Alex didn't say anything, instead he just started brushing the peanuts off Claira's bed. "Thanks." she said, offering him a smile. "No problem." said Alex, returning the smile. 

**I hope you liked this chapter, please please please don't forget to review! I love reading your reviews! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so so so sorry about how long this update took. I've been a little more busy than usual, but not busy enough to excuse this. I had some writers block for more than a week, Until I finally just gave myself a smack and sat down to write, not letting myself give up until I got back on track. I'm really sorry and I hope none of you give up on me. This probably isn't the best chapter, I'm not sure how well written it is but I promise the next one will be better and quicker. Again, I'm really sorry. I hope you don't hate it.  
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A week has gone by since school started at Shiz. Of course Claira missed her family and worried about them, but Alex and Alice made it easier to forget about them for a while.

To kick off the first week of school being over, the students were all planning to go swimming in the lake. "Guys, can I _please_ come with you!?" Alice asked for the 900th time as she followed Claira and Alex into their dorm. "Alice we told you, you don't actually go to Shiz, and don't tell your mom but there's going to be alcohol there." Alex said. Alice scoffed, pushing up her glasses then folding her arms. "You think I've never drank before?" Alice asked. Claira raised an eyebrow at the younger girl. "Okay, I haven't, but still!" Alice admitted, making all three of them laugh. "It's okay, I haven't either and I'm legal. But not this time Alice." Claira said. Alice groaned and flopped onto Claira's bed.

Claira pulled two swimsuits out of a drawer, one yellow and one purple, both nice looking one pieces with low cut backs. "Which one, you guys?" Claira said holding up the bathing suit. "Yellow." Alex said at the time as Alice said "Purple." Alice's head shot to the side Alex was on. "Are you crazy? Purple. Claira, don't listen to him. Ever. Never listen to him." Alice said. "What, no bikini's?" Alice asked. Claira scoffed. "What would I do with one of those?" Claira joked. Alice's eyes widened. "Um wear it, rock it, live it!" she said dramatically. "It would look odd." Claira told her. "No it wouldn't! You have an amazing body!" Alice said. "I'm a B cup." Claira said. Alice threw her hands up. "So am I!" Alice exclaimed. "Your 15 and tiny. I'm 19 and a tree." Claira explained with a smirk. "There is a male in the room!" Alex reminded them, digging through his drawers. Alice gave up, folding her arms behind her head and laying back against Claira's pillows. Claira laughed at her weird friends. "Purple it is then." she said, jumping behind the privacy screen she had bought so that she could change with Alex in the room.

Claira slipped on the bathing suit and slipped a loose light purple t-shirt on over it. When she stepped out Alex was standing a few feet away with his clothes in hand. "Can I use your screen?" he asked. Claira raised an eyebrow. "I told you, you should've bought your own." Claira said. "Yeah but why would we both spend money on it when we can just share?" Alex suggested. Claira rolled her eyes with a grin. "Go ahead, use it." she told him, sitting on his bed since Alice was on hers.

When Alex came out from behind the screen he was wearing orange swimming shorts and a white t shirt. "Ready to go?" asked Claira, getting up from Alex's bed. He nodded and the two made their way to the door. Claira turned around to see Alice still sitting on the bed with a smirk and her arms cradling her head. "Out." she said simply. Alice stayed where she was, but when Claira shot her the look that she often gave Emma when Claira wanted her to do something, Alice reluctantly got up and followed them out.

Alice walked with them all the way to the carriage, and waved goodbye as the horses trotted off.

...

Claira and Alex sat on the sandy shore of the huge still lake. Claira had turned down the offer of a drink but Alex hadn't, he held a can of beer in his hand and drank it slowly, a sip every couple minutes.

Alex was great and all, but his good looks, plus his brothers reputation, caused people to approach the pair as if they were old pals, while most likely, Alex has never met said person and Claira obviously hadn't. Alex clearly didn't mind talking to everyone, he was very social, which made him 20 times more approachable. Alice was just as bad, if not worse, being Glinda's daughter. Everybody just wanted to be able to tell people they've met her. Sometimes Claira felt a little left out because whenever a person approached her and her friends, Claira was never the one the person wants to talk to, yet at the same time, she was grateful of that.

"Let's go in the water." Alex said, standing up and whipping off his t shirt. Claira shook her head, and Alex nodded, Claira shook her head again, and Alex nodded again. Claira rolled her eyes and put her hand out to allow Alex to pull her up, which he did. Claira pulled off her t-shirt and went with Alex to the edge of the small wharf. Claira got on her knees and reached down to feel the water. "Oh gosh, its cold." Claira laughed. Alex said nothing. Claira turned around to see what he was doing and she saw that Alex was staring at her with a puzzled look on his face. "What's that on your back?" Alex asked, staring at her green birth mark. Claira's heart skipped a beat. Alex notice her panic stricken face which only deepened his confusion about the strange mark. Claira cleared her panic long enough to speak. "It's just a birth mark." she said, arranging her hair to cover it. "It's okay, I'm sorry for staring, you don't have to hide it." Alex told her. Claira walked at a fast pace, with the intentions of putting her T shirt back on. Alex grabbed her shoulder. "Where are you going?" he asked. "To get my t shirt." Claira said. She couldn't believe she had forgotten about hiding her birth mark. She shouldn't have been so careless, she couldn't be slipping up like this. "Claira I don't care about some-" Alex stopped as something on the other side of the beach caught his eye.

"Alice." he said sounding worried, before running off the dock. Claira looked and saw Alice in a flattering pink bikini, her freckled shoulders being held by a boy with shaggy blonde hair in a pair of cargo shorts without a shirt on. He was saying things to her that Claira obviously couldn't hear from the other end of the beach. Claira was somehow relived to see the Alice and the boy bothering her were surrounded by other Shiz students, who would never want to say anything even somewhat rude to the daughter of Glinda the good. Claira took off after Alex, seemingly forgetting again about hiding her birth mark again.

By the time Claira made it to the group, Alex was already standing very close to the other boy, Claira now saw up close that he was one of the boys who had come into hers and Alex's room on the first night. Alex had one hand on Alice's arm, not willing to let go of her no matter what, and the other arm tensed at his side. "Get away from her." Alex demanded. "Why? Does little Alice Upland have a body guard now too?" The obnoxious boy teased, his words slurred a little bit. Claira realized he was probably a bit drunk and that plus his massive ego made him think he could get away with pushing around Alice Upland. The boy laughed, taking Alice's blue glasses and tossing them into the rough sand, leaving Alice's vision blurred. Alice wriggled in his grip, her face as red as her hair with embarrassment. "Why are you doing this? just leave her alone." Alex demanded again. "I'm doing this because this _little kid_ thinks she can just be in on everything and be above us just because her mommy is special." The boy replied, Claira shook her head in fury, that was not true. Alice wanted to be included, that was all.

Claira immediately began to feel guilty. They shouldn't have come if they all couldn't go. Claira ran forward, pushing people in the crowd, and grabbed Alice's other arm. Alice looked up at her apologetically after the bully and his few supporters laughed because Claira, a quiet introvert stood up for her friend. Claira didn't have time to think about it though, the bully let go of Alice's shoulders and put his hands in the air. Claira quickly pulled Alice off the side and wrapped an arm around her. "Alex come on." Claira said, not bothering to turn around. When she didn't hear him coming she turned and saw Alex and the other boy, facing each other with deadly glares. Alex looked at Claira for a brief moment, long enough for him to see the look of warning she offered him.

The other boy gave a little shove, which triggered Alex to defy Claira's warning. Alex swung the first hit. The surrounding crowd started yelling and cheering. Alice and Claira screamed for them to stop. 'How could I be so stupid? I shouldn't have come here if I knew Alice couldn't come, we can't just exclude her. Of course she'd follow, she's Alice. She's so much like Emma... Emma... Alex saw my birthmark... What if he figures it out and betrays me to his dad... I've put my family in danger... and my friends.. Alex... He's bleeding...' Claira rambled on in her head until suddenly, everything seemingly froze, then begun again, expect this time it was as if the crowd had no control of their bodies. Alice, Alex and Claira looked at each other with confusion, they being the only ones with any control over themselves. "What's happening!?" Alex exclaimed. "I don't know! I got mad!" Claira cried. Alex picked up Alice's glasses and ran up to them. "Alright, well come on... And don't get mad at me!" Alex said as he and Alice began to run towards the road where they could call a taxi carriage, followed by Claira.

Once in the carriage, Alex pinched his bleeding nose. Claira sitting next to him, offered her arm without question, helping to keep blood from dripping everywhere. "I'm so sorry you guys... I never meant for any of this to happen..." Claira apologized, still felling very guilty. "Claira none of this was your fault, we know you never meant for this to happen." said Alice sincerely. "But what did you mean to happen? And why are we the only ones in didn't happen too?" asked Alex. Claira paused, looking between them both. 'magic' she realized. Claira exhaled. "I don't know. That has never happened before." Claira told them.

Claira, Alex and Alice all ducked their heads and tried walked at a fast pace towards the dorms. The group had almost made it to the door when... "Hey!" Glinda yelled from several meters away. Caught. Alice and Claira turned around slowly, matching smiles on their faces. Alex pretended to look for something, attempting to hide with bleeding nose. "Why are you both in bathing suits?" Glinda questioned. "Uh, we were at the lake." Alice said. "Who else was at the lake?" Glinda said with suspicion. "Just a couple other first years." Claira lied. Alice nodded. "Alex honey, are you okay?" Glinda asked concerned, tilting her head to try and get a better look. Alice tilted her head as well, blocking her mother's view. "Fine! I'm fine, thanks." Alex said with a plugged nose. "Are you sick Alex?" Glinda said, approaching him. Claira jumped in front of her. "Okay what is going on kids?" Glinda said, stepping around Claira and taking Alex's shoulder. He turned around and Glinda gasped at the sight of the blood running from his nose and down his bare chest. "Oh my Oz!" Glinda exclaimed. Glinda shook her head in shock. "What in Oz.. You know what, never mind. My office now. All of you!" Glinda ordered. The three exchanged looks and followed Glinda reluctantly.

Alice Alex and Claira took their seats across from Glinda's desk with their heads hung. Glinda slammed the door. "What happened?!" she demanded, handing Alex a box of tissues and a cold clothe. "We had a disagreement..." Alice said. Glinda glared at her daughter. Claira sighed, and explained exactly what had happened at the beach, leaving out the little detail about Claira having a magical burst.

"Alice, I told you before we even came here, that not all the students were going to be happy about having you here and you have to respect that. If Alex and Claira told you it was better for you to stay here you should've listened. I'm not blaming you pumpkin, but from now on, stay within your boundaries. " Glinda said. She turned to Alex now. "Alex, I'm very disappointed in you for trying to fix this with violence, but I'm glad you had the sense to stand down." said Glinda. Alex and Claira made discreet eye contact and Claira quickly looked down at her hands. Glinda noticed this and scanned the group, looking for anything they weren't telling her. "Okay, go change out of your bathing suits." Glinda dismissed.

When kids turned to leave the office, Glinda watched as a gust of wind from the window pushed Claira's raven hair to the side, revealing a strange spot on her right shoulder blade, a green spot. Glinda slapped her hand over her mouth as Claira followed her Glinda's daughter and Alex out of the room. The first moment Glinda saw Claira, she knew there was something eerily familiar about her. Even though the thoughts buzzing in Glinda's head were so far fetched, so absolutely crazy it somehow made sense. 'But how?' Glinda thought. Glinda thought of Elphaba, she tested every puzzle piece and nothing seemed to fit. But Glinda would figure it out, Glinda had to figure it out. Elphaba meant as much to her as her own daughter, and if she was somehow, still alive, Glinda would find out.

...

A week later, the events at the beach had begun to die down among the schools constant gossip. Students who happened to not be at the lake finally got the story straight. Claira found Glinda acting weird lately, but she brushed it off as nothing. The guy who started the whole issue at the lake was forced to apologize to Alice, which made Claira feel a lot better, though Alex had to apologize to the guy, which put a dent in Alex's pride. While Alex had a bruised nose, the other guy had two black eyes.

Claira's first two weeks at Shiz were certainly not what she expected, but for Claira, being able to stand up to a bully was never something she could do before... as for the magic outburst... well Claira would have to enlist her mother's help when she goes home for Christmas. Maybe after all, Claira could be a witch too.


	5. Chapter 5

Two more days until Lurlinemas break. Claira was so relieved to have the first semester over with and she couldn't wait to see her family. She was just finishing up on her last exam, and Claira was pretty confident she aced all of them. Helping Alex study turned out to be a good way to study herself, so Alex and Claira spent a lot of time in their dorm room surrounded by books. Alice was also stuck in her quarters studying for her own exams most of the time too, meaning they hadn't seen one each other much at all lately.

Since Alice's exams ended a few days before Claira and Alex's, poor Alice was bored out of her mind. She waited outside the classroom during Alex and Claira's last exam, wearing a Shiz university hoodie and jeans, with half of her short red hair pull back into a tiny ponytail. When students began to pool out of the room, Alice stood next to the door. Claira walked out of the room, barely having time to breathe a sigh of relief, before Alice leapt out from behind the door and hugged her. "Finally! Where's Alex?" Alice asked, still hugging Claira. Claira hugged back. "He had to take the extra 15 minutes, should be done soon though." Claira said, releasing her younger friend. Alice and Claira found a spot on a bench a few meters down the hall.

"How'd all your exams go?" Claira asked. Alice shrugged. "Eh, they were okay I think. I'm dyslexic, which makes everything a little harder." she answered. Claira stared at her for a minute, as if she was expecting Alice to shed her skin and have Emma sitting next to her instead. Alice pushed her glasses up. "Umm..." Alice became very awkward and looked down at her hands. "Oh! Alice no, that's not why I was staring. I've never told you this before, but you remind me a lot of my sister in personality, and my sister is dyslexic too, I've always had a knack for getting her to understand things, if you ever need help, just let me know." Claira said. She wasn't really sure if Alice would react well to that, Emma hated it when anyone acknowledged her learning disability. Alice just nodded. "Thanks Claira, I'll keep that in mind." Alice said with a small smile. "How come you never told me about your sister?" Alice asked. "I don't know, she never really came up, and honestly you don't often let anyone else talk long enough." Claira said. Alice and Claira smirked at one another for a few silent seconds, until they broke out into giggles. "Okay, okay." Alice said with a wide grin, cutting off their small giggle fit. "Tell me about your sister." Alice said, adjusting her position to listen. "Okay, so her name is Emma. She's 13, and personality wise, she just like our mom, and you're a lot like my mom too I guess. Being so far from home, I like how similar you are." Alice nodded, "Yeah I guess, but munchkin land's not that far, you could probably visit every few weekends if you wanted too." Alice suggested. "Umm... My family doesn't have much money..." Claira covered her slip up. "Oh. Well, I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind paying for a train ticket." Alice said. "I'm going home for Lurlinemas, that'll be fine until the summer." Claira said. "Alright well, next semester if you're ever homesick just let me know." Alice said with a kind smile. Claira felt bad lying to her, she had more than plenty Ozian money from her father, but it was the only excuse Claira could muster up on the spot.

Alex emerged hurriedly from the class room. "Alex!" Alice called, standing up. Alex put two fists in the air. "We're done!" he exclaimed, as Claira and Alice joined him. "How'd it go?" Claira asked. Alex scratched his head. "Good, I was stuck on the last question, that's all." he explained. "Great, well, let's go celebrate!" Alice said, taking Alex's hand and Claira's hand, and dragged them along as she ran down the hall. "Alice where are we going?" Claira laughed. "The lake! just us." Alice said, still jogging down the hall."Alice, it's December!" Alex commented. Suddenly Alice spun on her heel and stopped, facing her friends with a wide grin. "Have you guys ever heard of a polar bear dip?" Alice said, still grinning. Alice laughed at Alex and Claira's blank expressions, grabbing their hands to continue pulling them along the hallway. Once outside, Glinda stopped them. "Hey kids." she greeted. Alice and her 'victims' came to an abrupt stop. "Hi mom." Alice said eyes wide and innocent. "Where are you kids off too?" Glinda asked. "Alex and Claira's dorm." Alice answered without hesitation. "Oh. Okay." she said. Alice took that as dismissive and turned to leave when they were stopped again by Glinda. "Oh! Claira, do you think you could stop by my office around 4:30?" Glinda asked. Claira peaked at the watch on her wrist. 2:15. "Sure, I'll be there." Claira said, bidding Glinda an awkward smile before continue her way. 'Why does she want to see me?' Claira asked herself before shrugging off the curiosity.

* * *

Claira and Alex stood on the freezing cold dock in their swimsuits. After Claira had found out that the first two bathing suits she had showed off her green birthmark, Claira had gone out and bought a new one. similar to the other expect orange with a cut out on her lower back rather than a low cut back. Alice stood in front of them, also in a swimsuit, bouncing with excitement. On the shore was a change of clothes for each of them to put on after they jumped in the water, towels and Alice's glasses. "Okay so who's first?" Alice asked. "Alice, are you sure this is a good idea?" Alex asked. Alice opened her mouth to reply when Claira interrupted. "I think it a good idea. We all just finished writing exam, and now we only have a day and a half together before we're apart for 2 weeks. So why not do something crazy?" Claira asked, shocking both her friends. Normally Claira was cautious and a little up tight, but not this time. "What?" Claira asked, responding to their expressions. "Nothing it just, not quite what I expected from you." said Alice. "Alright let's do this. Alice, your mother is going to kill us." Alex laughed. "She not going to find out, besides, the water might do it for her." Alice shrugged. Alice scanned Alex and Claira' s wide eyed expression. "I'm kidding! Come on, let's jump. Claira, help I can't see." Alice said, taking Claira's hand. "We go, Alex as soon as we come up you jump." Alice said

Claira and Alice pounced into the cold water hand in hand. When their heads emerged from the water at the same time, both gasped then started laughing, hurriedly swimming from the cold. "I'm jumping!" Alex announced as he came at a run from the dock. By the time Alex reached the water, Claira and Alice were already reaching land. The girls hurriedly began drying off and pulling warm clothes, Hysterically laughing at the same time. Alex joined them, shivering and also began drying and clothing. The three laughed as they walked, shriving up to the dirt road to get a cab back to campus.

...  
The friends sat together back in Alex and Claira's dorm, each wrapped in a blanket. Claira sat on her bed, Alex on his bed and Alice lying on the floor between the two beds. Claira glanced at her bedside clock. "oh, I have to meet with-" Claira began but was interrupted "My mama" Alice completed for her. "Yup." Claira said, swinging her legs off the bed. Alice sat up. "I'm going to head home now, so I'll just walk with you." Alice said, hold out her arms for Claira to pull her up. Claira sighed and pulled up her smaller, younger friend. "Come on your dork." Claira muttered, giving Alice a playful shove. "That is bullying and I will not stand for it." Alice joked. Claira just rolled her eyes and shut the door behind her.

* * *

"Hi Claira!, come on in and take a seat." Glinda welcomed. Claira smiled and stepped into the office. Glinda gestured towards a chair across from her and Claira sat down. "So, Claira, I've noticed recently that I don't have any of your files, medical, educational or otherwise." said Glinda. Claira felt her heartbeat begin to rush. "Alice mentioned that you were from Munchkin land and I understand that many munchkin land farming families don't have that type of stuff. So basically, I was just wondering if your parents could come in after Lurlinemas break?" Glinda asked. Glinda waited longingly for Claira to slip up. Glinda knew having her files weren't that important. Lots of the students don't have information about their pasts. Glinda knew exactly why she had called Claira here, it was just poor Claira who was put on the spot. "Umm, I don't think my parents can afford the train fare for more than just me..." Claira said. "Oh don't worry about that honey, the school will pay transportation." Glinda assured her. "uh... Okay, I'll ask them once I get home." said Claira once she had ran out of lies. Another thing to worry about later in life. "Great!" You're free to go then." Glinda said. Claira got up and let herself out.

Alex had pick up a book after Claira and Alice left and read for about 25 minutes when he found himself feeling a bit peckish. Alex pulled open his nightstand drawer to find nothing but wrappers. He sighed. Alex then remembered that Claira had a can of peanuts somewhere... she wouldn't mind... Alex got up and crossed to Claira's side of the room. He pulled out her night stand drawer, feeling around for the small tin. Alex pushed aside hand lotion, tampons, small notebooks, Alex had almost given up on finding the can of peanuts when his hand fell on something that felt like a picture frame. Out of pure curiosity, Alex decided to see what it was. When Alex took the item from the very back of the drawer. His assumptions were proved right as he saw that the item was indeed a picture frame, no surprise there, the surprise was what the picture which the frame held.

Alex's heart began to pound against his chest. Claira, with a hand covering her wide grin and her other arm wrapped around a younger girl. A green girl, a green women next to her with a pointed finger, attempting to hide a smirk and a man floating a few inches above the ground. Alex starred at the photo, his mouth a gap and his eyes wide.

Alex heard the door open, causing him to jump from his frozen position at Claira's bedside, the picture gripped in his shaking hands. "How's it go-" Claira began. "Alex... what are you doing?" she asked, alarmed. Claira knew exactly what he was doing. He found it. "Alex. Please. It's not what it looks like..." Claira pleaded. Alex turned around slowly and faced her. He held mixture of fear and anger on his face. "Claira, explain. Now." said Alex, taking a seat on Claira's bed, still gripping the framed photo. Claira moved to sit next to him but Alex extended his hand. "No. Don't come any closer. Explain." Alex ordered, feeling a little bad when Claira wiped a tear from her eye, but he quickly ignore it when he glanced at the photo again. "She's my mom. The witch. She faked her death and left Oz with my dad F-" Claira explained, cut off my Alex. "Fiyero Tiggular, the captain of the guard who betrayed Oz and his fiancée. Glinda the good." Alex said for her. Claira nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes again. "They really aren't bad people Alex..." she said. Claira explained everything her parents had told her about their lives in Oz. Though her parents had never talked about the discrimination Elphaba had gone through due to her skin colour, for Emma's sake, Claira was smart enough to fill in those blanks.

"Okay... so... Glinda and Elphaba were friends... and the wizard of Oz betrayed your mom and lied to everyone... and... your mom was trying to save Animals... and was never actually a Wicked witch... so Tiggular and the witch faked their death... then went to another world outside Oz, had a kid... that kid being you..." Alex attempted to process everything Claira had told him. "Right." she said. "Okay, so why are you here?" Alex asked bitterly. Claira felt the chill in his words but answered it anyway. "Because, my parents told me stories about Shiz, and I love school, so I asked them if I could come here, they let me, as long as nobody found out who I really was." Claira said, looking away from him at that last part. "Alex... please, please don't tell anyone, if anyone found out, my family would be killed." Claira begged him. Alex looked away from her. "Alex please don't! I have a little sister, you couldn't do this to me, your my friend!" Claira sobbed. "Okay, okay. I believe you. Either your telling the truth or you thought long and hard about this cover story, and considering you put a picture of your secret fugitive family in your nightstand, I doubt it was the second option." Alex said. "Oh Alex thank you!" Claira said.

"You know, it makes sense now, all those weird things about you, the birth mark, your cluelessness about Oz. I get it." Alex said, handing Claira her picture. She took it and hugged it tight to her chest. "Can I trust you? Because if I can't, I'm leaving. You and Alice are the only friends I've had that wasn't my sister, and I love going to this school, but I'm not risking my family. Can I trust you?" Claira said. Alex nodded. "You can trust me. I'm not going to betray you like your mom was betrayed. " Alex said. At that, Claira burst into tears again and leaned her head onto his shoulder. Alex wrapped an arm around her. "Claira, does this mean you're a witch too?" Alex asked uneasily. Claira sat up. "Not necessarily. My sister Emmarose, named after my late aunt Nessarose, better known as the witch of the east. Anyway, Emma is a witch, we found that out when she was 3. She took a temper tantrum and shattered every light bulb in the house. But, I never showed any signs of having magic... until that day at the beach. Having grown up with an untrained witch, I know what a magical outburst looks like and that was it. I plan to ask my mom about it when I go home for Christmas." Claira said. "Christmas?" Alex question. "Lurlinemas." Claira corrected. Alex nodded. "How do you get back you forth?" he asked. Claira hesitated, not sure if she should tell him that. Claira decided that if she was going to trust him, she'd have to trust him completely. "My mom set up a permanent passage way in the Gillikin forest the first time she left." Claira told him. "Alex, I just want to be clear that my family is the most non wicked family you can get. My parents left so they could have a safe life together, not on the run." Claira assured him. Alex scoffed. "And my family consists of the captain of the Gale Force, a novice Gale Force solider, a palace employee and a solider to be." Alex said. Claira nodded slowly. "Odd combination huh? Daughter of The Wicked Witch of the west and son of the captain of the guard. Alex nodded. "Yeah weird." he agreed. Claira looked at him, her emotion evident on her face. "Don't worry Claira, I've got your back, nobody is going to know." Alex assured her.

Out of all the crazy things that had happened that day, one of the least expected was when Alex, leaned in to his roommate and friend, and kissed her. The craziest part though? Claira kissed back.


	6. Chapter 6

**Remember when I said I'd update every 5 days? Whoops. I made the bad decision to write this as I go so It's hard to stay on time because I never know what could come up or if I'll get a bit of writers block or whatever, also I just went back to school last week and school give me anxiety. So yeah, it's a little tough to find balance while trying to do this regularly and be a high school student with homework in 4 different subjects and extra curricular. Anyway, here is your long over due chapter 6, enjoy.**

* * *

Claira walked down the yellow brick road, which was currently covered in a dusting of sparkling snow. Claira walked with a little extra skip in her step than usual, Not able to get the kiss off her mind. Claira replayed that moment in her head continuously. His timing had shocked her, she'd thought for sure after finding out who she was that Alex would've kept his distance but instead he had kissed her. Alex kissed her.

Alice and Glinda had to stay at Shiz over the holidays because of the few students who weren't able to go home and were living on campus. But Alex rode the train to the Emerald city with her and walked her all the way to the yellow brick road. Claira had to convince him not to walk her all the way to her destination. Things between them were of course a little awkward, neither had spoken about the kiss since it happened, but also neither could keep their eyes off each other.

Claira had made sure to remember where to go off path, and when she saw the large oak tree which leaned over the road, she knew to turn.

After a long, cold while of walking in the snowy woods, Claira felt something... and then she saw it, the shimmering portal barely 5 feet in front of her. Claira tugged her bag farther onto to her shoulder and exhaled. It worried Claira that she felt the magic before she even saw it, that had never happened before, Claira had never actually _felt_ magic before now other than the time at the lake, months ago when she had performed it herself. All the more reason to ask her mother. Claira didn't hesitate to step into the passage, she was quite excited to see her family.

Claira simply walked through and stepped into about 6 inches of crunchy snow. The forest here wasn't quite as thick as the one she had previously been in, but other than that there really wasn't much difference between the two. Claira could see a fairly clear path that would take her to the road which she could follow into the town, find a phone and call her parents to come get her, Claira could barely keep the grin off her face at the excitement of seeing her family again.

Claira sat in the window seat of a little coffee shop, so she could get out of the cold while waiting for her parents. Claira had used the shop phone too, to call her house. Her dad had answered and immediately celebration was heard throughout the house. Claira luckily had a small amount of money on her so she was able to buy a cup of tea to sip at while she waited.

Finally, Claira noticed a familiar looking car pulling up, Claira was out of the door before she could even see the familiar face of the green women in the window. Elphaba was the first to run from the car and crash Claira into a hug. "Claira! I'm so glad your okay! you would not believe how worried I was! Oh Claira, I love you honey!" Elphaba said into her daughters shoulder.

Claira squeezed her mom, "I missed you too mom." she said, still holding on.

Fiyero jogged up next to them and attacked Claira with a hug. "Welcome home Claira." Fiyero said, hugging her. Claira hugged back tightly. "I'm really happy to be home!" she said smiling.

Claira noticed one more person step out of the car, slower than her parents had. Emma stood by the car with a small smirk on her face which turned into a wide grin when Claira flung her arms around her little sister and picked her up off her feet a couple inches, squeezing her tightly with love. "Hey Claira" Emma said, smiling. Claira backed up to take a better look at the younger, and greener, daughter. Her hair still fell a little bit over one eye, causing Emma to constantly be pushing it behind her ear, where it refused to stay.

"Hey Em." Claira said with her hands on her sisters shoulders. Claira pulled Emmarose back into a hug. "Ugh Emma I've missed you a lot." Claira said.

"We have a lot to catch up on, so let's head home." Elphaba said, beckoning to the car.

On the way home Claira told her family all about her classes and about her teachers. When Claira told her family about her friends, her parents, especially Fiyero were horrified to learn that she had been rooming alone with a boy, and overjoyed to know that Claira had befriended Glinda's daughter, Elphaba shed a few tears when Claira spoke about Glinda and how she was head mistress at Shiz and ruling Oz all at once while also raising an adopted teenage girl. Claira had purposely left out the bit about her and Alex's blossoming romance. Claira figured she'd tell Emma about it later. Claira also had yet to mention her few little run ins with magic, again, that would be brought up at a later date.

* * *

Claira and Emma sat together in their tiny shared bedroom. Claira was telling Emma all the stories of her fun times with Alex and Alice, Emma laughed at all the funny moments and sighed when Claira ran out of stories to tell. "I wish I had a friend I could do that kind of stuff with." Emma said with a sad smile.

"Emma, you could, mom somehow befriended Glinda, and their complete opposites, I'm certain that you could make a friend." Claira said.

Emma lifted the corner of her mouth and looked down at her hands. "You know, I did get invited to a Christmas party by this girl in my class, Kelsey. you know, the brunette one with glasses?" Emma said.

"Oh my gosh Emma, did you say you would go? when is it?" Claira asked enthusiastically.

"I turned it down. It starts in an hour anyway, it's too late." Emma said disappointedly as she checked the time. "Nope, you're going, come on get ready." Claira said with a smile as she stood up and brushed off her pants.

"Claira-" Emma began to argue. Claira cut her off with a high pitch sound and a finger held up.

"You're going Em." Claira said, rifling through Emma side of the shared closet. Claira handed her a pair of black leggings and a slightly translucent long sleeved white top which Emma would wear a camisole under. "Go get dressed and I'll do your hair and makeup." Claira commanded with a stern smile, pointing at the door.

Emma stood up and took the clothes from Claira, walking to the door. Emma paused and turned around, abruptly hugging Claira tightly. "Thank you Claira." Emma muttered to her before hurrying down the hall.

* * *

Emma walked into the room "I this outfit." Emma said appreciatively to her sisters eye for style.

"Me too! now hair..." said Claira. Emma hummed nervously. "Nothing major, sit." Claira said guiding her to the chair at the vanity. Emma looked herself in the mirror and frowned. Claira happened to notice this while brushing through Emma's hair, identical to her own. "You, are so beautiful Emma. I wish you could see yourself how I see you." Claira said leaning over Emma's shoulder.

Emma smiled into the mirror at her sister. "Maybe I will one day, but not today." said the 13 year old. "I hope so" said Claira, continuing on Emma's hair.

Claira took the piece of hair that continuously refused to say out of her face, and she braided it, pinning it to the back of Emma's head. Claira then tossed Emma's long hair over her shoulders. "See? nice and simple. Now just a little mascara and your good to go." Claira said, beginning to apply the mascara. Emma blinked rapidly. "Em, stay still!" Claira laughed. Once Emma had finished smudging mascara all over her eye, she laughed too. The sisters laughed until both had crumbled to the floor, "Okay maybe we can pass off on the makeup." said Claira after the hysteria.

"Good plan." Emma agreed. "I'll just go wash this off and we'll go." Emma said, standing up off the carpet and leaving the room.

* * *

"Does Mom know where I'm going?" Emma asked from the passenger seat

"Yeah, I had to tell her." Claira said, keeping her eyes locked on the road.

"I know, that's fine I don't care if she knows." Emma said. "I never thought I'd ever get to hang out with people from school, you were always my only friend." Emma said.

"Yeah and you're on a better streak than Mom and I. Mom hadn't gone to any sort of party until she was 19, and I only went out with a group of girls from school for the first time when I was 15, other than a birthday party or two in first grade." Claira told Emma.

"I've never even been invited to one of those birthday parties where the mom invites the whole class. Other kids moms were scared of me, still are." Emma said a little sadly.

"Well obviously this Kelsey girl must like you, she invited you here." Claira pointed out.

"I worked with her on a science project in the fall. She was pretty nice, she didn't even treat me strangely. But I haven't really spoken to her since" Emma said.

Claira smiled. "312? I think we're here." Claira said, pulling into the gravel driveway. "Want me to walk you in?" Claira asked switching the car into park.

Emma took a deep breath. "No, I'll be fine." she said, opening the door.

Claira smiled. "Okay have fun. Remember to call me if you need anything, I'll wait until your inside the house to pull away. Go get em, Em." Claira said. Emma leaned over and gave her sister a small hug before jogging to the door.

Emma took a deep breath before she pressed the door bell. She could hear footsteps approaching. Kelsey swung opened the main door so now only a screen stood between Emma and her very first party. Emma smiled brightly at Kelsey when she saw her, though Kelsey's reaction was very different. She stood wide eyed looking at the green girl. Emma's smile faded at her surprised reaction. "Uh, one second I just have to let my sister know that she can leave, she was just waiting, in case we were at the wrong house or something." Emma said, she turned around and leaned over the railing of the door step, giving Claira a thumbs up. Emma turned back to Kelsey who still looked a little shocked. "Hi..." Emma said awkwardly, a little worried that Kelsey wasn't going to let her in.

"Hi Emma, I... I didn't really expect you to come..." Kelsey said awkwardly still yet to open the door.

"I wasn't going to, but my sister convinced me, it's really the first time I've been invited to anything like this... I, I was invited right?" Emma asked looking down at her hands.

Kelsey snapped out of her shocked. "Yeah, yeah sorry come on in." Kelsey said.

Finally Kelsey opened the door and Emma stepped in, the entryway was small, with a staircase leading down to a basement entertainment room where Emma could hear music and loud chatter coming from, and two steps leading up to a kitchen. "Everyone is down here." Kelsey said nervously. She craned her neck trying to see farther into the basement. Emma began to feel nervous. Was there something she didn't know of? Kelsey and Emma turned the corner into the room. She quickly scanned the room and saw nearly her entire 8th grade homeroom class plus a quite a few others. There were kids everywhere, some playing Just Dance in front of the TV, others sitting on a futon, munching on some chips, and plenty scattered throughout the room. Suddenly someone noticed Emma and Kelsey standing in the arch entryway of the room. Kelsey with a nervous frown on her face. Emma with an awkward excitement showing in her small grin.

Somebody paused the music, and another person stood up off the couch. "The artichoke girl came!" one of the boys shouted, pointing a finger a Emma. The room erupted with laughter. Emma's smile faded off her face as she stared into the crowd of her peers, all laughing at her. Kelsey still stood next to her, now hastily wiping a tear off her cheek. Kelsey turned to Emma. "Emmarose I'm sorry." Kelsey said, her words barely audible over the laughter. Emma's eyes darted from Kelsey to the shattering sound from the coffee table, the glass chip bowl in pieces on the table, chips spilled on the table and onto to the floor. The magical outburst gave the party guests enough of a distraction for her too bolt back up the stairs, away from the Embarrassment and pain, Kelsey followed. Emma went all the way up and out the door.

Emma realised once she was out there that she would need to borrow somebody's phone to go home. Emma just took a minute, leaning over the railing allowing her tears to fall freely until she begun to get too cold. Emma turned around and stood straight, wiping the hot tears off her cold flushed cheeks. She noticed Kelsey watching her from the other side of the door, looking sick with regret. Emma turned back around quickly, willing herself to stop crying. When she composed herself, Emma hurried back into the house, head down this time. "Can I use your phone?" Emma asked.

Kelsey nodded. "Emma, you don't have to leave you know, Don't mind them, you can go have fun too." Kelsey suggested.

Emma shook her head. "I'd like to go home." Emma said. Kelsey didn't argue, instead she beckoned for Emma to go with her into the kitchen.

"Sit down, I'll go get the cordless phone." Kelsey said motioning to the table, then walking down the hallway. Kelsey came back and handed Emma a phone without making eye contact. Emma dialed Claira's cell phone number and Kelsey sat down opposite her.

"Hi, Claira can you come pick me up now?" Emma asked once Claira said hello, looking down at the table but peaking up to see if Kelsey was listening. She was, and she looked very upset.

"Em, why what happened? I just dropped you off." Claira asked Emma over the phone, concerned.

"It's boring, that's all." Emma lied.

"Emma tell me what actually happened. Emma sighed. "The invite was a joke." she admitted.

"What?!" Claira exclaimed.

"Claira really it's not a big deal." Emma attempted to sooth her frazzled older sister.

"I'm on my way. Are you okay to stay put for another 5 minutes?" Claira asked.

"Yeah I'll be here." Emma said, hanging up the phone. She handed it back to Kelsey and put her head down on the table concealing the tears that once again sprang to her eyes.

"Emmarose, I'm so sorry. My friends made me do it." Kelsey apologized.

"Then why are they your friends?" Emma asked.

"What do you mean?" Kelsey hesitated, confused by Emma's comment.

Emma lifted her tear streaked, puffy eyed face shamelessly. "I mean if they insist on having you do things that you don't agree with, why do you still hang out with them?" Emma explained.

"I, well I don't know who else I could hang out with." Kelsey said.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Kelsey. Everyone at school adores you. Anyone would be more than willing to hang out with you, I'd be more than willing to hang out with you." Emma said. Kelsey hung her head and nodded.

Emma and Kelsey both heard a car pull in the drive way and Emma did not hesitate to race for the door. "Bye Emma." Kelsey said shamefully.

"Bye." Emma said back before stepping outside into the cold. Emma watched as Claira got out of the car and closed the door behind her. "Claira, no, what are you doing?"

"I'm talking to that kid." Claira said, ignoring her sisters please to leave quietly.

Emma grabbed Claira arm. "Claira, Kelsey already apologized, there is nothing more to be done." Emma said.

Claira sighed. "Emma..."

"Claira please, I just want to go home." Emma pleaded.

Claira finally gave in and the pair got back it the car. 

**Reviews please? I'll try to update quicker than last time.**


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